This Supplement describes how the staff proposes to achieve further synergies by mapping the DQAF into the metadata structure of the DQP’s other key component: (3) the data transparency initiatives comprising the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) and General Data Dissemination System (GDDS).

The Data Standards Initiatives, the SDDS and the GDDS, have achieved the goals the Executive Board set in its Fifth Review of July 2003. The staff sees the next three years as a period of consolidating these gains by maintaining the credibility of the SDDS through improved monitoring of countries’ observance of its requirements, and further integrating both the SDDS and GDDS under the Fund’s Data Quality Program (DQP) by aligning their structure with the Fund’s Data Quality Assessment Framework (DQAF). The staff proposes to include no new data categories in the SDDS and GDDS. Instead, the staff proposes to deepen descriptive information on how countries cover oil and gas activities and products in selected existing data categories.

This paper reviews developments under the Fund's Data Standards Initiativ--the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) and the General Data Dissemination System (GDDS)--and their integration under the Data Quality Program. The paper discusses proposals for updating the SDDS and the GDDS to maintain their relevance and reflect evolving international best practice, and for follow-up on the data module of the Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC). The paper also proposes the development of a Compendium on Good Statistical Practices.

The Data Standards Initiatives, the SDDS and the GDDS, have achieved the goals the Executive Board set in its Fifth Review of July 2003. The staff sees the next three years as a period of consolidating these gains by maintaining the credibility of the SDDS through improved monitoring of countries' observance of its requirements, and further integrating both the SDDS and GDDS under the Fund's Data Quality Program (DQP) by aligning their structure with the Fund's Data Quality Assessment Framework (DQAF). The staff proposes to include no new data categories in the SDDS and GDDS. Instead, the staff proposes to deepen descriptive information on how countries cover oil and gas activities and products in selected existing data categories.

The International Monetary Fund’s Executive Board regularly reviews progress and developments under the Data Standards Initiatives. The last review—Eighth Review—undertaken in February 2012 introduced the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) Plus. In light of the long experience under the Data Standards Initiatives established in the mid-1990s, this review takes a longer term retrospective on what has been achieved so far, and highlights some of the lessons learned. What is evident is the contrast between the progress of countries with more advanced dissemination practices (SDDS and SDDS Plus), and the slow pace of improvement under the General Data Dissemination System (GDDS).

This paper reviews developments under the Fund's Data Standards Initiativ--the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) and the General Data Dissemination System (GDDS)--and their integration under the Data Quality Program. The paper discusses proposals for updating the SDDS and the GDDS to maintain their relevance and reflect evolving international best practice, and for follow-up on the data module of the Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC). The paper also proposes the development of a Compendium on Good Statistical Practices.

This paper reports on developments in the Data Standards Initiatives since the Seventh Review of the Fund’s Data Standards Initiatives (December 2008), and presents proposals for further enhancing the SDDS, and for data categories for the new higher tier of the data standards, the SDDS Plus. The SDDS Plus is primarily intended for subscribers to the SDDS with systemically important financial sectors while contributing to address further the data gaps revealed in the global financial crisis. This new tier is designed to enhance and supplement the Fund’s Data Standards Initiatives and not to replace the SDDS.